Comparing the Top Remote Time Tracking Applications

Remote work is on the rise, no one will argue with that. This has resulted in the birth of numerous tools that aim to help managers ensure productivity of their virtual employees. Two of the most popular remote time tracking tools are Worksnaps and Time Doctor.

If you are a manager or a business owner managing employees, it is important for you to ensure high productivity of your team. With a remote team it may be harder to ensure as of high productivity because you can’t keep as close tabs on everyone’s daily routine. Use of such time tracking tools is a great way for you to make certain (as best as possible) that your team is working on the tasks assigned to them. These tracking tools will help make sure that they are not spending their time lazily browsing the Interwebs, streaming videos unrelated to their jobs, or posting new Facebook statuses of their “easy new job working at home”. Not only do they keep your remote team more on task, more importantly they allow you to compare productivity of specific individuals and give feedback on how they are utilitizing their time.

Now that you know the importance of using such tools, you may already be wondering what are the differences between these remote time tracking tools. In order to answer this question, you should take the time to know more about them. Comparing them, their qualities, their features, and of course, their price will help you determine which of the two is the best fit for your business.

A Brief Overview of Worksnaps and Time Doctor

Before we get into the comparison and the differences between Worksnaps and Time Doctor, let us first provide you with a brief description on each of these products. Worksnaps focus, as our tagline says, is to “Keep Your Virtual Team Working Efficiently”. The aim of Time Doctor similarly is to help both individuals and organizations to become more productive.

As you can see, both of these tools are pretty similar and both will help you track both time and work. They will both help you (and your employees for that matter) become more productive and avoid being distracted. So the question is: are these two programs really that different?

Screenshot Recording

With Worksnaps, evidence of work done and the time spent on doing tasks are recorded, automatically sent to managers, and posted to the Worksnaps backend application instantly. The time logged is comprised of a series of “work snaps” or random screen screen shots of the users’ screen. Six randomly taken work snaps are taken every hour. In addition keyboard and mouse volume as well as top applications used can also be verified in each work snap.

Screenshot recording is required with Worksnaps, while it is optional for Time Doctor. Additionally, in Worksnaps data can be seen live by managers as it comes in, and in TimeDoctor data can be seen as requested, 1 day or 1 week after the data is sent to the server.

Integrations with Other Software and Management Tools

Another major difference between Worksnaps and Time Doctor is related to their integration capabilities.

Worksnaps allows integration with many project management tools including Basecamp, Freshbooks, Harvest, Redmine, Huddle and a handful other services. Integration with these software and management tools will ultimately result in a significant improvement in the workflow and the productivity of your employees, especially if you are already using one of them.

Integrations on Time Doctor for many popular tools should be availble soon for services like Google Calendar and Basecamp. Basecamp and Jira integration does in fact seem to be complete, be sure to read this link for exactly how to use it.

Additionally, Worksnaps offers an API for custom integration. Time Doctor does not have an open API. APIs allow users to easily integrate with their own products or in-house applications, as well as generating much more customized reporting.

Privacy Options

Worksnaps allows privacy filters to ensure that preset applications and websites are not sent to the server. If you are more likely to stray away from work during the day, perhaps the privacy option here would suit your needs. Setting privacy filters for screenshots and applications will help you keep sensitive or personal information from being recorded. There is also a “Private Mode” in Worksnaps that allows you to record your time and activity completely in private. You can review the logged time later, say at the end of the day, and determine what to make visible to your manager.

Time Doctor allows you to easily filter out work based on keyword searches for periods of inactivity, such as Facebook, after work has been posted to the server. Additionally there is a reminder pop up based on your behavior, “Time to get back to work.” Periods of inactivity will continue to be entered to the server but they will be attributed as “poor use of time” when Time Doctor detects that you are using an app or a website that is not related to work. Obviously you can always have a “break” to go to your own personal sites or apps but just know that with both of these time tracking applications your managers will understand how much personal time you are using.

Similarities between Worksnaps and Time Doctor

Worksnaps and Time Doctor have a few things in common. These similarities can be seen in the installation and the set up of the time and tracking tools, as well as in the free trials being offered.

Installation and Set Up – Both of these time and work tracking tools are easy to install and set up. Installation and set up will only require a few minutes of your time, as long as your computers or devices are connected to the Internet.

Free Trials – Both of these tracking devices also come with free trials, for a period of thirty days. You will not be required to submit credit card information or take on a contract just to take advantage of the free trial. The free trials are also available for all the different types of monthly subscriptions being offered by the developers of both tracking tools. The only time that you would be required to provide your credit card information is in the event that you would want to continue using the service after your 30 day free trial period comes to an end.

Free Trial Cancellation Process – The process of cancelling the free trial is also similar. If you do not like the service being provided, all you would have to do is to cancel your account from your control panel or from your account settings. You will not be charged for early termination of the 30 day free trial.

Monthly Subscription and Product Pricing

For monthly subscription, Worksnaps ranges from $2 to $4 per user per month depending on the number of users you have. Worksnaps has a Free plan to allow you to track time for yourself. Time Doctor ranges from $7 to $10 per user per month with a solo plan for $5 per month.

Conclusion

If you are looking for a cost efficient, cost effective, and simple tool that will help you track the time and the work completed by your remote employees, either Worksnaps or Time Doctor will do a great job. Hopefully though you now know a bit more about their differences.